About

How much of Earth's atmosphere must we contaminate? How much of our lands and waters must we pollute? How much of our resources must we plunder, deplete? How many species must we ravage, despoil, extinguish? How many people must we degrade, deprive, destroy with toxic wastes and wars, before we learn to respect one another, to live in harmony on this planet, our Home?
"All living beings are brothers and sisters, nourished from the same source of life.." -- Thich Nhat Hanh

About Me

I was born in Eastern Europe during the height of the
Stalinist regime's reign of terror. Thus, I know what it is like to live under a repressive, dictatorial regime. The fear and terror -- as dissident friends and family members were tortured, imprisoned and some were executed -- is indelibly etched in my memory. That is the reason I have always been an ardent advocate of freedom, social justice, civil liberties, human rights and a voice of peace. The way I see it, war is morally wrong, regardless of who wages it, for whatever reason. No piece of land or commodity is worth the sacrifice of one human life. We are all members of the same race - the "human race" - and must learn to coexist peacefully. Our planet cannot sustain us much longer if we do not stop our wars, nukes, polluting, deforestation, and the wasteful, gluttonous consumption and depletion of our natural resources.

âA satisfyingly virulent, comical, absurd, deeply grieving true portrait of how things work today in the sleek factories of conglomerate book producers... A skillful novel of manners -- of very bad mannersâ

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Hold the Harper Government Responsible for the Fate of Canadians in Lebanon

Hold the Harper Government Responsible for the Fate of Canadians in Lebanon and of the Entire Lebanese People

The Canadian government continues to act criminally by refusing to take responsibility for Canadian citizens in Lebanon in the context of the all-out war taking place there.

The U.S. and most European countries have already evacuated many of their citizens, bringing in helicopters to besieged villages and moving them to ships traveling to nearby Cyprus. These evacuation efforts began days ago, while it was only yesterday that Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay declared that ships are being mobilized to evacuate Canadians. CBC reported that the Canadian government ordered ships from Cyprus to Lebanon to evacuate people, yet Harper was reported as saying that these ships will not arrive for several more days. This is not acceptable. The death toll mounts daily in Lebanon and more civilians are sure to be killed every day.

It is reported that 16,000 Canadians have already registered with the Canadian Embassy in Beirut but it is estimated there are 40,000 Canadians in Lebanon and already at least seven have been killed.

Calls to the Department of Foreign Affairs show that the government has no concrete evacuation plan in place. TML spoke with the 24-hour emergency hotline for the Foreign Affairs Ministry which confirmed for the thousands of Canadians with family members in Lebanon that there is no concrete information concerning evacuating Canadian citizens, despite the hope raised by MacKay's statements. One issue of concern is how Canadians in Lebanon would know about the evacuation since phones are not working, radios are down and there is no electricity to access TV or the Internet? The young woman who answered the hotline declared that we should not worry: "We will let them know."

The government is also refusing to contact relatives in Canada to inform them of the evacuation plan. These relatives could contact those in Lebanon and inform them of any such plan. However, it appears this means of reaching Canadians in Lebanon will not be used. The woman on the hotline suggested that this would take too much effort. Clearly, the Canadian government lacks a genuine will to assist its citizens in Lebanon.

Another issue brought to the attention of the Foreign Ministry is that many people are unable to move even a block, and certainly cannot leave their villages to reach a ship on the coast for evacuation. The response to this concern was again not to worry: "We will get them all out." How can people trust that this will happen when already Canadian citizens have been left to die in Lebanon?

When it was suggested that helicopters may be needed to evacuate people the answer was simply that it is too dangerous to use helicopters. Leaving aside the fact that other countries have used helicopters, it is a moot point that there is danger in a war zone.

Only a callous mind can think that a government does not have the responsibility to take dangerous action to assist its citizens. The Canadian government is more than happy to send Canadian citizens into danger to wage an illegal and immoral war of occupation in Afghanistan where troops have already been killed. Yet to send Canadian personnel into danger to save their citizens in Lebanon is inconceivable. More importantly, why doesn't the Harper government demand that Israel stop its bombing?

The government's reluctance to evacuate Canadians from Lebanon demands an explanation. Why is the Harper government so callous about evacuating Canadians? Is it because they are of Arab descent and are visiting their relatives in Lebanon? Are they in the way of expanding the "Jewish" state of "Greater Israel," just as the Palestinians have been in the way since 1945, and the Arabs of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt have long been in the way of establishing the "Jewish" Anglo-U.S. military beachhead on Arab lands to control access to the markets and raw materials of West Asia and Northeast Africa?

For weeks, Harper and the Canadian monopoly media have been egging on the genocidal Israeli state in its latest aggression against the Palestinians and Lebanese. Behaving not like a state that adheres to basic human principles but rather a racist colonial military outpost, the Zionist thugs who are financed and armed to the teeth by U.S. imperialism are on the prowl for any Arab who stands in the way of a "Jewish Greater Israel."

Massacring Palestinians and Arabs and destroying their public works, apartments, houses and other property on which they depend for survival, the Zionists want to clear West Asia of non-Jews to expand their racist Anglo-U.S. sponsored colonial beachhead.

Barely one month since the 65th anniversary of the German invasion of the Soviet Union "to cleanse the Slavic lands of non-Aryans, destroy their economic base and expand Greater Germany into the conquered territories" another racist killing machine is bombing into dust Arabs -- including Canadians of Arab descent -- and their economic superstructure to make room for a "Jewish Greater Israel."

At least in 1941 the Canadian government finally stood up to Hitler's Germany and denounced and fought against its fascist project. Today, Harper and the fawning U.S. sycophants in his so-called Canadian cabinet are cheerleaders of today's Nazi racist aggressors who are spilling innocent Palestinian, Arab and Canadian blood.

Harper says it is up to the Palestinians and Arabs "to stop the escalating violence." Why is it up to them? They are the victims. They have been the victims since 1945 when well-financed thugs calling themselves Zionists invaded their lands with the active support of the British and U.S. militaries. Harper says the use of the most advanced weaponry from the sky, sea and land to rain violence upon Arabs by the Zionist military outpost is "measured" and in "self-defence." He spouts that Palestinians and Arabs fighting to defend their homeland and their right to return must "recognize" the colonial usurpers of their land.

Is that what he is going to tell the grieving Canadian families of Arab descent? We are sorry but your families were in the way of a "measured" Zionist response, and besides you are Arabs, not "real" Canadians. A National Post editorial said as much: "[A]s horrible as such deaths are, there is an important moral distinction to be drawn between terrorists who kill civilians deliberately, as in the case of Hezbollah rockets attacks; and an army that accidentally kills civilians in the course of attacking military and strategic objectives."

Today the Government of Canada and the monopoly-owned media stand with fascism, aggression and the wanton killing of civilians. In 1941 it did not say that the peoples of the Soviet Union had to "recognize" the right of the German Nazis to invade and occupy their lands, and that the Soviet victims of aggression and occupation did not have the right to resist or return to their homes. Today, Harper and the monopoly media are encouraging the U.S.-sponsored Zionists to expand their genocide against Palestinians, Arabs and people of the Islamic faith. He and his government have the blood of Arabs on their hands, including Canadians of Arab descent.

Shame on the Harper government for aiding, abetting and applauding today's racist Nazi aggressors, the Anglo-U.S. military beachhead on Arab lands who in the face of their own demise are determined to take everyone down with them. It must not pass! The criminal Harper government must be stopped with a mass movement holding it fully responsible for the fate of Canadians in Lebanon and of the entire Lebanese people.

Demand that the Canadian government take up its responsibility to evacuate its citizens by whatever means necessary immediately.

No to government hypocrisy, racism and criminal aloofness! Hold the Harper government fully responsible for the fate of the Canadians in Lebanon and the entire Lebanese people!

RallySaturday, July 22 -- 1:00 pmIsraeli Consulate180 Bloor Street West (west of Avenue Road, north side of Bloor)

2 comment(s):

Why should the Harper government be responsible for decisions made by people to go to a nation still officially at war with Israel? Since 1949 lebanon has refused all offers of peace treaties or armistice with Israel. Lebanon refused to deploy its army into the south and left Hizb'allah to run its state within a state. If people choose to go to a war zone then they must accept the consequences. As for the evacuation, there was not much Canada could do since it has almost no naval vessels capable of evacuations and it has no merchant marine. It was the people of Canada that chose to divert funds away from Canada's defense forces, not Mr. harper. Canada is 1/2 a world away and can't move ships any faster then is mechanically available. With cutbacks to the foreign service, there were no exra people available. As for all those convenient Canadians that chose to live in lebanon, too bad. they didn't want to contribute to Canada's social welfare system, they didn't want to build Canada and they had a greater love for Lebanon. That was their right and I respect that. But now they must udnerstand that they can't just expect everyone to come rushing for them now. Lebanon is hardly a bastion of civil rights, or even basic rights for that matter. Homosexuals are persecuted, the mentally ill are not cared for, women have limited property rights and are frequently harassed, thjere is no concern for basic kindness to animals and the age old conflicts between Shia/Druze Sunni & christian are well known. Too bad for them. As yee sow, so shall ye reap. My mother's side of the family lost many relatives fighting for Canada during 3 wars, and my father's side of the family was murdered during the German occupation of Holland. They died during a conflict between good and evil. In Lebanon, the conflict is merely the result of greed and lust with Syria and Iran dispatching their proxy army to do the dirty work. I see that you are not overly concerned by the plight of 1million Israelis facing rocket fire daily. Nice double standard. Hizb'allah chose to locate its military bunkers and to fight in civilian areas. That is why I can shed no tears.